Top 5 games to watch this weekend in esports

July 22, 2021

by Brian Bencomo

Don’t know what to watch this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Here are five of the most compelling games happening this weekend across League of Legends, VALORANT and Call of Duty.

Toronto Ultra vs. Florida Mutineers -- Friday, 3 p.m. ET

Call of Duty League Stage 5

It’s the final week of Stage 5 before the start of Major V and the conclusion of the Call of Duty League regular season. The Florida Mutineers have been coming on strong lately. They beat the Dallas Empire a week ago and are tied with Toronto atop Group B. The winner of this matchup will likely decide who wins the group and gets one of the top two seeds at Major V.

Streams on https://www.youtube.com/CODLeague

CDL Schedule:

Thursday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
Friday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
Saturday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
Sunday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET

TSM vs. Evil Geniuses -- Friday, 7 p.m. ET

League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split

Evil Geniuses are not considered one of the top contenders to win the LCS, but they are actually tied with TSM for the best record during the summer split at 14-7. They’re tied for third in the standings and a win over TSM would put them within a game of second place.

Streams on twitch.tv/lcs

LCS schedule:

Friday: Starts at 6 p.m. ET
Saturday: Starts at 5 p.m. ET
Sunday: Starts at 4 p.m. ET

TBD vs. TBD -- Saturday and Sunday

NA VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 3 Challengers 2 open qualifier

The first two days of the VCT Challengers 2 open qualifier are bound to feature some surprises, and with only four spots up for grabs in next week’s closed qualifiers, several favorites will not make it. Among the favorites vying for one of these four spots are: Cloud9 Blue, FaZe Clan, Immortals, TSM, T1, Andbox, NRG, Built By Gamers and Luminosity Gaming. That’s not even counting rising Tier 2 orgs like Soniqs, Renegades, DarkZero and Virtuoso.

Qualification matches for the closed qualifier will take place Saturday and Sunday. Soniqs are the top seed, and if they reach the qualifying match Saturday they will likely face either FaZe Clan or Immortals. Saturday’s other qualifying match will likely be between fourth-seeded DarkZero and possibly TSM or Andbox. No. 2 seed T1 should have a relatively easy path to qualification on Sunday, and third-seeded Cloud9 Blue will likely face either NRG or LG on Sunday.

Streams on https://www.twitch.tv/nerdstreet

VCT schedule:

Thursday: Starts at 5 p.m. ET
Friday: Starts at 5 p.m. ET
Saturday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
Sunday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET

FlyQuest vs. Cloud9 -- Saturday, 7 p.m. ET

League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split

FlyQuest have cooled off a bit after their 3-0 week when they promoted their entire Academy roster to compete in the LCS. The team they beat to kick off that 3-0 week was Cloud9, and they’ll face them again Saturday. While FlyQuest have played their way into eighth place in the standings, Cloud9 have tumbled from first to a tie for third. C9 is assured of being in the eight-team LCS Championship bracket, but getting one of the top two spots would give them a big advantage. For FlyQuest, they need to keep winning in order to stay ahead of Golden Guardians and make the eight-team cutoff.

Dallas Empire vs. Toronto Ultra -- Sunday, 6 p.m. ET

Call of Duty League

The top of Group B will be a dogfight this weekend between Toronto, Florida and Dallas. This matchup between Toronto and Dallas might very well decide the group winner, and the winner of the group will get a first-round bye in Major V. Fun fact: this will also be the last scheduled online match played in the Call of Duty League this season. Major V will be on LAN in Arlington, Texas, and the Call of Duty League Championship will also take place offline in Los Angeles.

Lead photo credit: Call of Duty League